“It has become almost a cliche to remark that nobody boasts of ignorance of literature, but it is socially acceptable to boast ignorance of science and proudly claim incompetence in mathematics.”

British evolutionary biologist, zoologist, science communicator, atheist activist, and author

Richard Dawkins is a British evolutionary biologist, zoologist, science communicator, atheist activist, and author. He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford. In 1995 he became the first Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science, a post he held until 2008. Dawkins is known for writing and speaking about evolution, science, and atheism, and for explaining science to a broad audience. He has received several academic and literary honors, including the 2005 Shakespeare Prize and the 2006 Lewis Thomas Prize.